Monthly Archives: December 2014

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Duel of Ages II: Arena combat in a Riverworld-style fantasy

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  • by Mike Clarke
This review was first published to BoardGameGeek in Sept. 2013 
 I played Duel of Ages II last weekend and what a trip that was.
This is an adventure game on an epic scale and it’s all about the theme.  You’re playing fiction and non-fiction characters from across four ages:  Ancient, Colonial, Modern and Future. It reminds me of Riverworld where people from all ages are crammed into a single arena.

 

The back story in Duel is set in a virtual reality game of the future in which you absorb a personality matrix to become one of a number of fantasy, sci-fi, historical or fictional characters: Roy Rogers or Robin Hood anyone? Beowulf, Pat Garrett or Little Annie Oakley — she’s awful good with a gun!

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Android: A belated apology to Kevin Wilson for killing his baby

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by Mike Clarke

This review was originally published to BoardGameGeek in January, 2011.

Much has been said about Android and what a confusing game it is. After having played it a few times since purchasing it last week, I can safely say the only thing confusing about Android to me are the criticisms that have nearly killed it and with it the hope of future expansions or additions.

What a shame.

Those who don’t get the game see Android as a collection of confusing mechanics with less than adequate game play. Many of the reviews I’ve read sum up Android with an air of authority based on, in many cases, only one play.

On one hand, they complain about how complex the game is, but are unwilling to invest the time to discover it. Many of those who had a hand in killing it crowed about its unique theme, and original mechanics, but couldn’t be bothered to devote much effort to exploring them.

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Merchants and Marauders: Why I sailed over galleons of water for a frigate rumour

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by Mike Clarke

This review was originally published to BoardGameGeek in January 2011.

Merchants and Marauders is an epic tale of plunder and trade in the Age of Piracy. You start as a slovenly pirate with grand ambitions in a lowly sloop or a small-potatoes merchant with dreams of wealth and adventure in a bucket-of-bolts flute.

During the course of the game, you’ll ply thousands of miles of open ocean through the seas of the Carribean and along the coast of South America.

Along the way you’ll plunder and trade your way to ‘Glory’ acquiring better vessels in the form of frigates and galleons and living a story told through the ‘Events’ that shape your world, the ‘Rumours’ you find in port and the ‘Missions’ that the less adventurous denizens of the land pay you to undertake.

In so doing, you’ll be living your own personal story, which due to the rumours and missions, the different captains you get to command, their different starting ports and the random nature of the goods in demand, will be different each time you play it.

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Mice and Mystics: Is it more than a kid’s Game?

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Boardgame Empire | Where board gaming, astronomy, science fiction and fantasy meet.

by Mike Clarke

This review was originally published to BoardGameGeek in November, 2012.

Like many of you I was wondering whether Mice and Mystics would work for gamers without kids. I even opened up a forum post on the subject and got mixed reviews so I went ahead and bought the damn thing.

Last weekend, my now grown kids, former role-players both came over to try it out. Here’s our story:

We settled in around the table with some snacks and after spending a little time catching up and setting up the game, I read them the intro and off we went. Now the intro could have been a little shorter.

It’s hard to sustain an audience for a new game with a long read. However, I kept them interested by telling them they should pay attention to the characters beause they were going to be choosing which of them they wanted to play. That helped them focus on the story a little better.

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Dominant Species — or how I learned to stop worrying and love the bits

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by Mike Clarke 

This, my very first game review, was published to BoardGameGeek in December 2010. 

Since its release, Dominant Species has been coming under criticism for a number of perceived shortcomings that nearly caused me to pass on the game.

So this is a review addressing some of the criticisms which might make you reluctant (like I was) to pick it up. I’m not going to review the game play. That’s been done several times already.

People have complained the components aren’t thematic, that the board is too plain, the tiles are too thin and their artwork too simplistic and that the cards and the element tokens make the game play too random.

I was intrigued by the game, but these criticisms made me postpone buying it until there was only one copy left in my area. However, faced with the prospect of waiting until March 2013, I took the plunge and bought the last copy.

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Ascending Empires: Is it spouse friendly?

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by Mike Clarke

This review was originally published to BoardGameGeek in June 2012.

A fellow gamer asked me to write up my thoughts on Ascending Empires as a two player spouse- friendly game after I spent a week researching a 4X (explore, exploit, expand, exterminate) game I could play with mine.

So here it is. Let’s start with: Is she clumsy?  Ascending Empires has one fairly unique feature. It uses dexterity instead of dice to simulate randomness.  You flick your ships over a smooth puzzle-piece board on, or within, a planet’s orbital “ring” allowing you to set up outposts and transfer troops as you expand your empire.

ascending empires star wars
A shot of the orbital rings on a set customized with Star Wars labels. (Jeremy Laverty/BoardGameGeek)

It’s light for a 4X game, but has a decent amount of strategy that includes a tech tree for customizing your ships.

It’s a 2-4 player game with each player represented by a coloured world. Each world has its own colour tech.  You accumulate more tech by exploring  worlds and unlocking the tech represented by that world’s colour.

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